Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma has pointed out a big "miscalculation" on the part of Mumbai Indians before heading into the mega-auction for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Mumbai remains IPL's most successful franchise and will be aiming for an unprecedented sixth title in the 15th season.
Mumbai retained four players before heading into the mega-auction - captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav. Rajkumar feels that Mumbai should have thought about retaining New Zealand star Trent Boult, who was neither attempted to be bought back by the franchise and was eventually roped in by Rajasthan Royals for INR 8 crore.
"MI will miss Trent Boult for sure and they miscalculated. Boult and Jasprit Bumrah have won them so many games. I really don’t know how they let him go," he said on the Khelneeti podcast.
Boult had played a crucial role for Mumbai in their run for their fifth title in IPL 2020 in the UAE by providing them early breakthroughs. He had picked 25 wickets that season and returned with 13 wickets in 14 games in IPL 2021. Mumbai instead bought three left-arm pacers at the auction - Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat and Tymal Mills.
{{/usCountry}}Boult had played a crucial role for Mumbai in their run for their fifth title in IPL 2020 in the UAE by providing them early breakthroughs. He had picked 25 wickets that season and returned with 13 wickets in 14 games in IPL 2021. Mumbai instead bought three left-arm pacers at the auction - Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat and Tymal Mills.
{{/usCountry}}Rajkumar feels that the buys indicated that Mumbai were trying to fill the Boult-size gap in their line-up.
“To make up for Boult’s absence, they went for Unadkat, who has done well for Saurashtra recently. He has proved to be expensive, but because of his experience, there are always hopes that he can deliver. The two other left-armers have been picked as backup it seems," he said.
He also pointed out another big issue in the Mumbai line-up and hence backed the experienced Pollard to play a crucial role for the franchise.
“In T20 cricket, you don’t need more than 4-5 batters. Then you can have all-rounders. If your top 4-5 batters can’t play 20 overs, then what is the point? But yes, MI are weak in the all-rounders’ department this time and Kieron Pollard will have a big role to play as he is the only experienced impact player in the middle-order," he explained.